Scottish Executive

Adoption

Karen Gillon (Clydesdale) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when phase II of the adoption policy review will commence.

Cathy Jamieson: I am today announcing the terms of reference and the sub-groups for Phase II of the Adoption Policy Review, which will consider the legal framework for adoption and fostering in Scotland. Sheriff Principal Graham Cox, who chaired Phase I of the review, has agreed to chair Phase II. Penny Simpson, who was a member of the Phase I Review Group, will chair a sub-group looking at the role of the Children’s Hearing system in permanence decisions.

  I expect Phase II to complete its work and report towards the middle of next year.

Air Services

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what average number of return air trips has been made per head of population in each year since 1991.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested for year 2000 is given in The Regional Air Services Co-ordination Study (RASCO), in Table 3.13.1, page 3-44, which was published by the Department for Transport in July 2002. A copy of the RASCO report is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26018). The information requested for the remaining years from 1991 is not held centrally nor with the Civil Aviation Authority.

Air Services

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average growth has been in total air passenger traffic for Scotland and (a) Aberdeen, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Glasgow airports in each year since 1991.

Lewis Macdonald: The information for Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports is given in The Regional Air Services Co-ordination Study (RASCO), in Table 3.2.1, page 3-3, which was published by the Department for Transport in July 2002. A copy of the RASCO report is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26018).

  Information is also available in the 2001 CAA-UK Airports – Annual Statements of Movements Passengers and Cargo, Table 10.3, which was published by the Civil Aviation Authority. The website address is as follows:

  www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2001annual/10_3_Terminal_pax_1991_2001.pdf.

Air Services

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the actual growth rates for international scheduled air services for Scotland and (a) Aberdeen, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Glasgow airports have been in each year since 1991 and what trends have been identified as a result.

Lewis Macdonald: The information from 1997-2001 is given in each of the annual documents CAA-UK Airports – Annual Statements of Movements Passengers and Cargo , Table 5, which were published by the Civil Aviation Authority, the search facility for which can be found as follows:

  1997-2000: www.caa.co.uk/erg/erg_stats/sgl.asp?sglid=3

  2001: www.caa.co.uk/docs/80/airport_data/2001annual/05_Air_Transport_Movements_2001.pdf.

  The information requested from 1991-96 is not held centrally.

  Over the past decade, Scottish airports as a whole have grown at 7% per annum. Passenger traffic has doubled; international scheduled services have grown faster than domestic; international charter traffic has grown less quickly, and, after London, Scotland has the next highest propensity to fly.

Air Services

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the actual growth rates in total international passenger numbers for Scotland and (a) Aberdeen, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Glasgow airports have been in each year since 1991 and what trends have been identified as a result.

Lewis Macdonald: The information for Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow Airports is given in The Regional Air Services Co-ordination Study (RASCO) in Table 3.2.5, page 3-8, which was published by the Department for Transport in July 2002. A copy of the RASCO report is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26018).

  Information is also available for 1997-2001 in the CAA-UK Airports – Annual Statements of Movements Passengers and Cargo, Table 10.1, which was published by the Civil Aviation Authority, the search facility for which can be found at:

  www.caa.co.uk/erg/erg_stats/sgl.asp?sglid=3

  Over the past decade, Scottish airports as a whole have grown at 7% per annum. Edinburgh and Prestwick Airports have grown above the UK average with Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness Airports below average. Passenger traffic has doubled; international scheduled services have grown faster than domestic; international charter traffic has grown less quickly, and, after London, Scotland has the next highest propensity to fly.

Air Services

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the actual growth rates in total international passenger numbers for Scotland shown as a percentage of all United Kingdom regional airports have been in each year since 1991 and what trends have been identified as a result.

Lewis Macdonald: The information from 1997 is given in the CAA-UK Airports – Annual Statements of Movements Passengers and Cargo , Table 10.1, which was published by the Civil Aviation Authority, the search facility for which can be found at:

  www.caa.co.uk/erg/erg_stats/sgl.asp?sglid=3

  The information requested from 1991-96 is not held centrally.

  Over the past decade, Scottish airports as a whole have grown at 7% per annum. Passenger traffic has doubled; international scheduled services have grown faster than domestic; international charter traffic has grown less quickly, and, after London, Scotland has the next highest propensity to fly.

Air Services

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the passenger forecasts for airport services are for Scotland and (a) Aberdeen, (b) Edinburgh and (c) Glasgow airports for 2030.

Lewis Macdonald: The information requested is given in the consultation document The Future Development of Air Transport in the United Kingdom: Scotland , page 79, which was published jointly by the Scottish Executive and the Department for Transport in July 2002. Copies of the consultation document are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 22825).

Birds

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been, or will be, made available to the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in Scotland for the maintenance of a database of wildlife crime; whether the information held on such a database will be verified and, if so, by whom; whether such a database would contravene the human rights of an individual, and whether the information will not be used in the compilation of reports to the procurator fiscal.

Allan Wilson: In the financial years, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) received a grant of £20,000 per year from the Scottish Executive. This was a contribution given towards the continuing costs of species protection measures under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and it is a matter for the RSPB how these funds were allocated within these areas. This funding ended in March 2002 and it is not anticipated that further funding will be made available to the RSPB from the Scottish Executive for species protection measures.

  Processing by the RSPB of personal data relating to individuals is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998. Any query on this issue is a matter for the Office of the Information Commissioner, the body responsible for enforcing the law in this area.

Civil Service

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34196 by Mr Andy Kerr on 6 March 2003, from which specialities the specialists referred to in the answer were recruited.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Information requested is provided in the following table.

  Scottish Executive Core Departments

  Specialist Staff Recruited, by Financial Year and Specialism

  1999-2000 to 2002-03 (Year to Date)

  

 

April 1999 to March 2000 
  

April 2000 to March 2001 
  

April 2001 to March 2002 
  

April 2002 to January 2003 
  



Architect 
  

4 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Economist 
  

12 
  

10 
  

10 
  

9 
  



Engineer 
  

21 
  

1 
  

3 
  

2 
  



Information 
  

12 
  

2 
  

17 
  

15 
  



Legal 
  

42 
  

17 
  

21 
  

15 
  



Library 
  

2 
  

4 
  

0 
  

1 
  



Medical 
  

1 
  

2 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Planner 
  

3 
  

3 
  

2 
  

3 
  



Research 
  

4 
  

9 
  

12 
  

16 
  



Scientific-Agriculture 
  

28 
  

41 
  

23 
  

22 
  



Scientific-Other 
  

3 
  

4 
  

0 
  

1 
  



Statistician 
  

9 
  

7 
  

17 
  

8 
  



Surveyor 
  

4 
  

0 
  

2 
  

1 
  



Other* 
  

11 
  

10 
  

7 
  

2 
  



Total 
  

156 
  

110 
  

116 
  

95 
  



  Note:

  *The Other category includes specialists not categorised elsewhere.

Civil Service

Brian Fitzpatrick (Strathkelvin and Bearsden) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-34196 by Mr Andy Kerr on 6 March 2003, why information on the number of specialists recruited into the civil service before 1999 is unavailable and whether such information was collected by the Scottish Office and, if so, what happened to the information.

Mr Andy Kerr: Data relating to the specialism of staff recruited before 1999 was not collected systematically and is therefore not sufficiently reliable to provide an accurate comparison with more recent figures.

Construction Industry

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are employed within the construction industry and, of them, how many are self-employed and have Construction Industry Scheme (CIS) 4.

Iain Gray: There were 115,000 people employed in the Scottish construction industry at September 2002. The Scottish Executive has no functions in relation to the numbers of those who are self-employed and have CIS 4 cards.

Education

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in each local authority area have not had a full inspection in the last (i) 10, (ii) 15 and (iii) 20 years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Graham Donaldson, Chief Executive of HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE), to respond. His response is as follows:

  Over recent years, HMIE has increased the number of schools inspected each year. In 1996-97 152 school inspections were completed. This rose to 299 in 2002-03. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34083 on 3 March 2003, which explained that we are aiming to have inspected all primary schools by 2009 and all secondary schools by 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search..

  Schools which have not yet been inspected are given priority when we plan the annual inspection programme. However, there are other factors to take in account. These include:

  ensuring the programme provides sufficient data about the performance of education authorities;

  ensuring the programme includes a broad range of schools: rural and urban; small medium and large; with a high, medium and low percentage of the roll receiving free meal entitlement, and are located across all 32 local authorities in Scotland, and

  ensuring the programme can provide a representative sample of data about education in Scotland.

  Details of the number of primary and secondary schools, by local authority area, not inspected in the last 10, 15 and 20 years is given in the following table:

  


Local Authority 
  

Number of Schools Not Inspected in the Last: 
  



10 Years 
  

15 Years 
  

20 years 
  



Primary 
  

Secondary 
  

Primary 
  

Secondary 
  

Primary 
  

Secondary 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

17 
  

0 
  

8 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

52 
  

0 
  

31 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  



Angus 
  

14 
  

0 
  

8 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

31 
  

0 
  

24 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

3 
  

1 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

40 
  

1 
  

27 
  

0 
  

15 
  

0 
  



Dundee City 
  

5 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

11 
  

0 
  

2 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

15 
  

0 
  

9 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



East Lothian 
  

11 
  

0 
  

5 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

5 
  

2 
  

1 
  

1 
  

1 
  

0 
  



City of Edinburgh 
  

48 
  

1 
  

23 
  

1 
  

9 
  

0 
  



Falkirk 
  

19 
  

0 
  

12 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  



Fife 
  

59 
  

0 
  

32 
  

0 
  

15 
  

0 
  



Glasgow City 
  

87 
  

4 
  

62 
  

1 
  

29 
  

1 
  



Highlands 
  

80 
  

0 
  

54 
  

0 
  

16 
  

0 
  



Inverclyde 
  

4 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Midlothian 
  

11 
  

0 
  

5 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Moray 
  

14 
  

0 
  

9 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

21 
  

1 
  

17 
  

0 
  

4 
  

0 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

42 
  

8 
  

19 
  

4 
  

5 
  

1 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

11 
  

1 
  

6 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

17 
  

0 
  

8 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

21 
  

0 
  

16 
  

0 
  

8 
  

0 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

22 
  

0 
  

6 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

13 
  

0 
  

7 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

13 
  

0 
  

7 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

41 
  

0 
  

31 
  

0 
  

10 
  

0 
  



Stirling 
  

9 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  

1 
  

0 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

15 
  

0 
  

10 
  

0 
  

3 
  

0 
  



West Lothian 
  

23 
  

0 
  

13 
  

0 
  

8 
  

0 
  



Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 
  

18 
  

0 
  

12 
  

0 
  

4 
  

0

Education

Michael Russell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many schools in each local authority area have not been inspected by HM Inspectorate of Education within the last (a) seven and (b) 10 years.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Graham Donaldson, Chief Executive of HM Inspectorate of Education, to respond. His response is as follows:

  Details of the number of schools in each local authority area not inspected in the last seven years are given in the following table. For the number of schools not inspected in the last 10 years, I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-34084 today. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search..

  


Local Authority 
  

Number of Schools not Inspected in the Last 
  7 Years 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

16 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

66 
  



Angus 
  

18 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

32 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

5 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

56 
  



Dundee City 
  

11 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

11 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

16 
  



East Lothian 
  

18 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

19 
  



City of Edinburgh 
  

55 
  



Falkirk 
  

20 
  



Fife 
  

77 
  



Glasgow City 
  

142 
  



Highlands 
  

95 
  



Inverclyde 
  

25 
  



Midlothian 
  

14 
  



Moray 
  

22 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

24 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

111 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

14 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

21 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

39 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

28 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

14 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

28 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

85 
  



Stirling 
  

18 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

23 
  



West Lothian 
  

33 
  



Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 
  

23

Enterprise

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will provide a response to Determined to Succeed: A Review of Enterprise in Education .

Iain Gray: We are today publishing our response to Determined to Succeed , copies have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. The response signals our determination to effect a step change in the delivery of enterprise in education. To this end, we have agreed a partnership with Schools Enterprise Scotland Ltd and the Hunter Foundation to act as expert advisers in agreeing and developing the Enterprise in Education programme.

  As a result of that agreement, we are today announcing an additional commitment of £2 million in 2003-04, on top of the £40 million made available for the next three years in last year’s spending review. Our new £2 million matches a contribution of that amount from the Hunter Foundation, and will take first year resource to £9 million.

Environment

Sarah Boyack (Edinburgh Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources will be made available to enable local authorities to carry out their legal responsibilities under the statutory regime for contaminated land.

Allan Wilson: We have allocated £15 million capital resources over the three years 2003-04 to 2005-06 to help local authorities carry out their statutory responsibilities under the contaminated land regime which came into force in July 2000.

  The funds will help local authorities to identify and investigate sites, take forward enforcement action and, in cases where they are unable to identify those responsible for the contamination, carry out remediation work at their own hand.

  Together with the resources we announced in February 2001 and April 2002, over the six years 2000-01 to 2005-06 the Executive has made capital allocations totalling £24.7 million available to local authorities for work associated with addressing the problem of contaminated land. In addition, a further £3.9 million was issued to 15 local authorities last November for specific projects aimed at cleaning up derelict and contaminated land that is causing public health risks or blighting communities.

  The distribution of capital allocations to local authorities is shown in the following table.

  

 

Allocations for
2003-04 
  

Allocations for
2004-05 
  

Allocations for
2005-06
(Indicative) 
  



£000 
  

£000 
  

£000 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

69 
  

69 
  

69 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

68 
  

68 
  

68 
  



Angus 
  

98 
  

98 
  

98 
  



Argyll and Bute 
  

72 
  

72 
  

72 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

50 
  

50 
  

50 
  



Dumfries and Galloway 
  

163 
  

163 
  

163 
  



Dundee City 
  

142 
  

142 
  

142 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

181 
  

181 
  

181 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

61 
  

61 
  

61 
  



East Lothian 
  

57 
  

57 
  

57 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

50 
  

50 
  

50 
  



Edinburgh (City of) 
  

181 
  

181 
  

181 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

72 
  

72 
  

72 
  



Falkirk 
  

126 
  

126 
  

126 
  



Fife 
  

325 
  

325 
  

325 
  



Glasgow City 
  

580 
  

580 
  

580 
  



Highland 
  

326 
  

326 
  

326 
  



Inverclyde 
  

57 
  

57 
  

57 
  



Midlothian 
  

133 
  

133 
  

133 
  



Moray 
  

50 
  

50 
  

50 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

194 
  

194 
  

194 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

662 
  

662 
  

662 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

50 
  

50 
  

50 
  



Perth and Kinross 
  

77 
  

77 
  

77 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

300 
  

300 
  

300 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

53 
  

53 
  

53 
  



Shetland 
  

0 
  

0 
  

0 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

69 
  

69 
  

69 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

281 
  

281 
  

281 
  



Stirling 
  

92 
  

92 
  

92 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

101 
  

101 
  

101 
  



West Lothian 
  

260 
  

260 
  

260 
  



Scotland Total 
  

5,000 
  

5,000 
  

5,000

Government Services

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made towards the 2005 electronic service delivery target.

Mr Andy Kerr: We have today published the Executive’s 4th Electronic Service Delivery Progress Report. Overall, 83% of services provided by the Executive, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies are now available online to some degree. This represents a 3% increase since the last report was published in October last year. Copies of the report have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre. It is also available on both the 21st Century Government website and the OpenScotland website. A separate report showing the progress of local authorities towards the 2005 target will be published shortly.

Health

Shona Robison (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been set aside to implement the "Fair for All" strategy, as referred to in chapter 3 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: A key principle of the "Fair for All" approach is that the distinctive health needs of individuals and family groups from ethnic minority communities should be met and funded by culturally competent mainstream services. The Scottish Executive provided funding of £1.1 million over three years to establish an ethnic minority resource centre to support and monitor the local delivery of the "Fair for All" approach.

  In this European Year of Disabled People, the health white paper, Partnership for Care acknowledged the success of the "Fair for All" approach by extending to other potentially excluded groups the principle that mainstream services should recognise and respond sensitively to the distinctive individual needs, background and circumstances of people’s lives. We have already agreed a strategic partnership with the Disability Rights Commission and will shortly begin a stocktake exercise to establish what additional support local services require to deliver this commitment.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients received diagnostic tests performed in one-stop clinics as a percentage of all patients receiving diagnostic tests in the NHS in each of the last three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current level of funding is for the (a) Partnership Support Unit, (b) Scottish Partnership Forum and (c) Human Resources Forum, as referred to in chapter 6 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper , and what funding it will make available in each of the next three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: The work of the Scottish Partnership Forum (SPF) is supportive of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Scottish Executive and the STUC. This provides a framework for the development of genuine partnership working between the two organisations and includes a joint commitment to make the best use of resources.

  The Partnership Support Unit and Human Resources Forum (HRF) have recently been announced and have no allocated funding for 2002-03. They will not be fully operative until after April. The SPF and the associated Partnership Information Network (PIN) were not allocated specific funding in 2002-03, however it is estimated that funding for work associated with these groups amounted to £108,000.

  Combined funding of £395,000 has been set aside for 2003-04 for the Partnership Support Unit, SPF, HRF and work of the PIN. The two forums and the PIN board will shortly be developing their programme of work for the coming years which may influence future funding arrangements.

  The new SPF will be able to influence future strategy on a range of health service policy spending issues. The HRF will have the capacity to influence spending on human resources issues.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what investment has been made in personal computers, network connections and training for NHS staff to use information and communication systems, as referred to in chapter 6 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper , and what investment it will make available in each of the next three years.

Malcolm Chisholm: Investment plans for the provision of personal computers, network connections and training for NHS staff are agreed between NHS boards and NHS trusts in support of their local IM&T Strategy. Central records are not kept of this investment.

  Central funds are provided on a recurring basis for national telecommunications network services, GP email/messaging services, to facilitate provision of local IM&T training for staff and to provide European Computer Driving licences for staff. These funds totalled £4.592 million in 2002-03.

  Central funds have been provided on a non-recurring basis this year to assist NHS boards and NHS trusts improve their IM&T infrastructure and to assist in advancing their strategic plans for IM&T. These funds totalled £13.39 million.

  Central funds to be made available for eHealth investment are to nearly double over the coming three years to more than £48 million per annum.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what effective interventions it will use to ensure that standards are met and enforced within the NHS, as referred to in chapter 1 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: Our recent White Paper Partnership for Care focuses on listening to patients and involving the public and communities, and on improving the quality of health care.

  Our proposals involve a range of interventions that may be necessary to ensure that adequate standards and performance are maintained by the NHS in Scotland. These are set out in Chapter 4 of the health white paper Partnership for Care. These include actions by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland to investigate serious service failures and make clear recommendations for remedial action, and action by the Executive to require NHS boards to make immediate changes to remedy serious concerns about patient safety and service quality.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is a body independent of government and the NHS. It was established on 1 January 2003. The purpose of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland is to improve the quality of health care in Scotland by setting standards and monitoring performance. Standards are reviewed by teams including patients and professionals and NHS organisations are expected to meet the standards laid down by NHS Quality Improvement Scotland.

  The white paper makes clear that the Executive has arrangements for escalating intervention to address service failures within the NHS. The Executive will also review its powers of intervention and bring forward legislation, if necessary, to ensure that effective mechanisms are in place for the delivery of national standards and priorities.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what information that is not currently available to NHS patients will be provided to patients in future through the Patient Information Initiative and what funding the initiative will receive, as referred to in chapter 3 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: The white paper Partnership for Care notes that patient information is currently available from a variety of sources. However, this information may vary in quality, or may not be in a format which is readily accessible to those who use NHS services in Scotland.

  The Patient Information Initiative will develop national quality assurance guidance for the development, review and management of patient information. An important part of this is the involvement of patients in the development of information. It will also support equal access across Scotland to a patient focussed resource of generic health information.

  Funding for this initiative will be £1 million.

Health

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many out-patient clinics are held in local health centres, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The information requested is not held centrally.

Justice

Mr Tom McCabe (Hamilton South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what decision has been taken in relation to the release of the report about Thomas Hamilton by DS Paul Hughes to the Procurator Fiscal at Stirling in 1991.

Colin Boyd QC: Following the shooting of 16 schoolchildren and their teacher, and the suicide of Thomas Hamilton, on 13 March 1996 at Dunblane Primary School, the then Secretary of State for Scotland established an Inquiry under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921.

  The inquiry was chaired by Lord Cullen and the remit was to inquire into the circumstances leading up to and surrounding the events at Dunblane Primary School on Wednesday 13 March 1996 and to consider the issues arising therefrom. The inquiry sat for 26 days, between 29 May and 10 July 1996 and the whole proceedings were held in public and recorded by shorthand writers. The report of the inquiry and the transcript of the evidence are available on the internet at:

  www.archive.official-documents.co.uk/document/scottish/dunblane/duncntnt.htm and

  www.scotland.gov.uk/library3/justice/dunblane/dunblane-00.asp respectively.

  In the course of the inquiry a large number of documents were lodged with the clerk to the inquiry and copies of all productions were given to those represented at the inquiry, including those representing the parents of the dead and injured. All of these productions were available for reference in the course of the inquiry and any issue arising from those documents could have been raised during the proceedings.

  In January 1997 there was a meeting between the clerk to the inquiry, and representatives of the Scottish Record Office and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Following that meeting it was agreed that copies of all the productions in the inquiry should be lodged with the Scottish Record Office (now the National Archives of Scotland). It was also agreed that there should be a closure period of 100 years, because many of the productions referred to people who were children at the time. It was further agreed that these productions could be accessed with the consent of the Crown by those showing a legitimate interest. Lord Cullen was consulted and indicated that he was content with what had been agreed.

  There is no statutory basis for the closure of records created by Scottish public bodies. The Public Records (Scotland) Act 1937 (the 1937 act) makes provision for the preservation, care and custody of the public records of Scotland. The terms of the legislation are permissive.

  By contrast, in England and Wales the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended by the Public Records Act 1967) sets a statutory "closure period" of 30 years after which records must, with limited exceptions, be made available to the public. The 1937 act does not impose similar obligations on Executive departments, but in practice those procedures are followed in Scotland.

  The criteria for closures longer than 30 years were defined in the 1993 White Paper on Open Government (CMD2290), in accordance with which it is for the department responsible for depositing the material to decide on the closure period. In Scotland, the National Archives of Scotland cannot vary this closure period and cannot produce "closed records" to the public without the permission of the depositing department.

  The white paper sets out a clear statement of principle as to what information should be made available and what ought properly to be kept confidential in the public interest.

  Documents containing information about individuals, whose disclosure would cause either substantial distress, or endangerment from a third party to persons affected by disclosure or their descendants can be subject to a variable closure period of between 40 and 100 years.

  When the productions for the inquiry were lodged with the Scottish Record Office no effort was made to distinguish between productions making references to children and other productions because of the sheer volume of the material.

  In light of recent public concern expressed about the 100-year closure period, all police reports submitted to the procurator fiscal in relation to Thomas Hamilton have been reviewed. I have considered whether or not it would be appropriate at this stage to make such reports available for public inspection. Given the sensitive nature of much of the material, which might cause anguish to those involved, my prime concern in considering this request has been to ensure that the privacy of those children referred to in the report should be maintained. I am also conscious of the need to abide by the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998.

  In the exceptional circumstances of this case I have decided that the public interest would be best served by making arrangements to have the reports dated 30 August 1988, September 1991, 3 July 1992 and 9 June 1993, and associated witness statements, made available in a form which removes personal data and ensures that there is no prospect of any of the children or witnesses being identified.

  Accordingly, photocopies with such information redacted will be placed in the released record, while the originals remain closed to be reviewed and released at a later date. Arrangements will be made to lodge these at the National Archives of Scotland, Edinburgh where members of the public can gain access to them in the normal manner.

  The internal memo dated 11 November 1991 from DS Hughes to his superior officers requesting that consideration be given to withdrawing Thomas Hamilton’s firearms certificate as a precautionary measure was read out by then Superintendent Joseph Holden of Central Scotland Police on day seven of the inquiry and can be found at pages 862 and 863 of the transcript. Superintendent Holden also read out the comments noted on the memo by superior officers.

  None of these reports contain allegations against politicians or other prominent figures.

  Disclosure of reports of this nature is not to be interpreted as undermining the presumption, supported by the Scottish courts, that police reports are confidential. That presumption is necessary to ensure that witnesses or those under investigation are not inhibited or deterred from co-operating in criminal investigations by the possibility that information provided might be disclosed and their identities revealed to the public outwith the protection of the court.

  At this time unrestricted access to the productions cannot be allowed because of the sheer volume of the material and the fact that much of it refers to children. I have decided in the light of recent interest that the material should be catalogued by staff at the National Archives of Scotland in a way which does not lead to the identification of children. When a full catalogue is available, I will consider further the extended closure of the papers and whether other material which does not identify children or whose release would not be contrary to the data protection legislation can be made available, or whether it would be appropriate to vary, in any particular case, the closure period.

Licensing

Susan Deacon (Edinburgh East and Musselburgh) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to address concerns of women’s organisations about any increase in the licensing of lap dancing clubs.

Mr Jim Wallace: The task group currently reviewing the licensing provisions of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 has been asked to include in its deliberations the arrangements for licensing lap dancing. Any groups wishing to express views on the subject should therefore communicate such views to the task group secretariat as soon as possible at Scottish Executive, Local Government Constitution and Governance Division, Area 3H, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ.

Mental Health

Janis Hughes (Glasgow Rutherglen) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Needs Assessment Programme (SNAP) report on child and adolescent mental health services will be published.

Malcolm Chisholm: I understand that the SNAP report is now virtually complete and will be published shortly by the Public Health Institute of Scotland. Meanwhile, to inform debate on this important issue, arrangements are being made for the Executive Summary and Recommendations to be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre today.

NHS Funding

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what NHS Quality Improvement Scotland’s budget is for 2003-04.

Malcolm Chisholm: The budget of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland for 2003-04 is £10.231 million.

Nursing

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will examine ways of funding nursing students that will enable them to train or retrain without needing to take on a second job.

Malcolm Chisholm: Up until 1992, student nurses received a salary. Following a major review of nurse training in 1992, it was agreed that student nurses and midwives should no longer be regarded as employees but that they should have full student status like all other health profession students.

  Nursing and midwifery students receive funding for training through the Nursing and Midwifery Student Bursary (NMSB) scheme. A non-repayable bursary of £5,430 (for students under 26 at the start of the course) or £6,115 (for students over 26) is awarded to cover day-to-day living costs. The bursary has increased by 21% since 1998 and is supplemented by other allowances including single parents allowance (currently £1,100); an income assessed allowance for dependant children; excess costs of travel to placement, and Disabled Students Allowance. In addition, for courses commencing academic year 2003-04, students will be able to claim up to £1,025 child care allowance.

  We are providing £1 million over the next two years to encourage up to 600 nurses, midwives and health visitors to return to NHS practice. Funding for each individual for a Return to Practice (RTP) programme is linked to an offer of employment in NHSScotland, either in a permanent post or on the nursing bank with regular hours of work required. The funding available is £1,500 per returner, which includes course fees, travel expenses, child care and payment for the period of supervised practice.

Pre-School Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many nurseries have qualified nursery teachers on their staff.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is provided in the following table.

  Pre-School Education and Daycare Centres with Qualified Teachers1

  January 2002

  

 

Pre-School Education Centres 
  

Daycare Centres 
  

All Centres 
  



No. Centres 
  

2,597 
  

1,520 
  

4,117 
  



No. Centres With Qualified Teachers2


1,600 
  

191 
  

1,791 
  



  Notes:

  1. In addition to qualified teachers, centres may have qualified early education and child care leaders/co-ordinators, and qualified early education and child care playworkers/assistants, as well as staff without formal qualifications in teaching or child care.

  2. Centres may have more than one qualified teacher. There were 2,435 qualified teachers working in pre-school education and daycare centres in January 2002.

Public Sector Staff

Phil Gallie (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what public positions Joan Aitken has held since 1 May 1999 and on what dates she started and completed her periods of service for each position.

Mr Andy Kerr: Miss Aitken has been employed by the Scottish Executive as the Scottish Prison Complaints Commissioner since 1 November 1999 and will leave this post on 19 March 2003.

  During the period in question, Miss Aitken has not been a board member of any public body for which the Scottish Executive is responsible.

Scottish Executive Websites

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-33188 by Lewis Macdonald on 22 January 2003, whether any public money has been directly or indirectly provided to Journeyplan Ltd

Lewis Macdonald: The Scottish Executive pays grant to Traveline Scotland Ltd to allow the company to meet its contractual obligations with Journeyplan Ltd. Journeyplan Ltd are currently contracted to Traveline Scotland to maintain the Traveline Scotland data management centre and to carry out a number of enhancements to the journey planning system.

Scottish Health Council

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the Scottish Health Council will work with local health councils in each NHS board area to achieve greater public involvement in the NHS, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: A consultation paper on A new public involvement structure for NHSScotland was launched on 4 March and includes proposals for how the Scottish Health Council might operate nationally and locally. Copies of the consultation paper are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26830).

Scottish Health Council

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the annual budget for the new Scottish Health Council will be, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper .

Malcolm Chisholm: The budget for the new Scottish Health Council has not yet been determined. However, local health councils received core funding of £1,979,000 from the Scottish Executive in financial year 2002-03.

Scottish Health Council

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how the role of the new Scottish Health Council will differ from that of the Scottish Association of Health Councils, as referred to in chapter 5 of Partnership for Care: Scotland’s Health White Paper.

Malcolm Chisholm: Local health councils have formed a national association, the Scottish Association of Health Councils, as a membership organisation entirely funded by its members’ subscriptions. Currently, 14 out of the 15 Scottish health councils have chosen to be members.

  The consultation paper on A new public involvement structure for NHSScotland, launched on 4 March, proposes that the Scottish Health Council should be established within NHS Quality Improvement Scotland as a national body with a local presence in each NHS board area. Copies of the consultation paper are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 26830).